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"Do it at once," he said decisively "Take my Armenians; they are discreet, obedient, and they ask no questions--with strong hammers they will soon crush the clay Stay! I will coly, he added kindly: "You have eaten nothing, ive way-- here, take this" And lie held out a s properties I well knew to be greater than any sustenance provided by an ordinary lass to hie from Zara You know, I suppose, that she was prepared for her death?"

"I did not know; but I think she must have been," I answered

"She was We both were We re words we had to say to one another We knew her death, or rather her release, was to occur at soht; but in ay the end was destined to come, we knew not Till I heard the first peals of thunder, I was in suspense; but after that I was no longer uncertain You were a witness of the whole ensuing scene No death could have been e she gave me for you" Here he took from a secret drawer the electric stone Zara had alorn "This jewel is yours," he said "You need not fear to accept it--it contains no har you no ill-fortune You see how all the sparkling brilliancy has gone out of it? Wear it, and within a fewin your veins war of your blood, its hues change and glow It has no power to attract; it can simply absorb and shine Take it as a remembrance of her who loved you and who loves you still"

I was still indress, andthe stone, round em with some curiosity In a few seconds a pale streak of fiery topaz flashed through it, which deepened and glowed into a warm crimson, like the heart of a red rose; and by the tilittered as brilliantly as ever